Meta: Episode 4x17 "The Art of Deception"
I didn't realize I hadn't posted this until earlier today, and then felt like total fail. *facepalm*
--
Problems with Villainous Mastermind Plans 101: NO CAPES!
(Samuel, Lydia, Claire, Noah, & Lauren, and the rest of the Carnival)
--
It's weird to see Lydia wearing clothes so much now. -- superkappa
"There was an incident." Mistakes were made. Towns sank into the chalk layer. Samuel had a crazy day and was flowing heavy. -- ewinfic
Now Lydia's a mind reader? What? I... what? Ah, nevermind. -- ewinfic
"They needed a villain. Someone worse than me." Samuel is a writer for Heroes! This makes so much sense! -- ewinfic
They killed Lydia, obviously, she was both a new character and a woman (blond and not called Claire or played by Ali Larter): doomed from the start. Claire being right there with a healing blood made the things even more ridiculous. -- di_elle
Man, for a second there, at the beginning, I thought Samuel was wearing a villain’s cape. Which would have been a little OTT, even for the carnival. -- jaune_chat
You know, wanting to “prove your worth” by “any means necessary” is kind of a contradiction in terms. Normally you can’t prove you’re not really a mass-murdering psychopath by killing other people. Unless, of course, you’re Samuel Sullivan. -- jaune_chat
Samuel goes to surrender his ass with a big, heartfelt speech, which ends in a hail of blazing gunfire. Claire should have started screaming that it wasn’t her dad doing the shooting, because Noah “Badass” Bennet would have never shot Samuel in the shoulder. He’s not that bad a shot. He would have never shot Claire. And he would have never randomly shot around children. It’s a damn good thing Samuel had a huge distraction ready in Lydia’s death to keep anyone from thinking rationally about the whole damn mess. -- jaune_chat
Claire races off to get a medkit when she sees Lydia is down. Why didn’t she just start screaming for a syringe? Because not every medical kit has one, but in a carnival as big as this, someone is bound to be a diabetic or has some other condition that would require a syringe. I know Claire’s blood could cheapen death, but if the writers are going to introduce the damn stuff, they better fucking USE IT! -- jaune_chat
Samuel decides that Noah needs to go to the Hall of Mirrors with Damien of the Awesome Dreads and Unspecific Mind-Affecting Powers while Claire needs to be put in his trailer. Ew! EW!!! This can only end in more pseudo sexual assault on Claire, and I’m really, really getting tired of that. -- jaune_chat
We begin in Carnival land, where Samuel has a post-earthquake hangover the size of an enormous hole in the ground. He's also peeved that nobody is talking to him, apparently having forgotten that most of the carnival crew never had speaking parts in the first place. -- redscharlach
Speaking of people who aren't having sex, Claire also has to suffer the social embarrassment of finding out that her dad is regularly forcing an attractive woman to engage in tedious Carnival-related research. And even when Bennet takes Lauren for a romantic mini-break in the countryside, it's the kind that involves sniper rifles and binoculars rather than rolling in the hay. Personally, I think that Bennet's mind has got sex and violence irreparably confused and he now believes that sex is the one you need a bulletproof vest for. -- redscharlach
Alas poor Lydia! Not only does she die rather pointlessly but she has to suffer a final kiss-up with Samuel and ends up almost gagging because his tongue tastes of treacherous evil. Or possibly Nacho Cheese Doritos, which in my opinion have a similar tang. Yuck. -- redscharlach
Oooh Samuel is looking rough today and lolz, he's wearing a cloak. That's the sign of a true villain right there. -- ilikethequiet
It's million dollar question time!!! Mohinder clearly said when he made Noah a compass that you have to have someone with abilities to help find the place, HOW DID THEY FIND THE PLACE?! -- ilikethequiet
--
Nobody Ever Listens to a Voice of Reason™
(Noah, Lauren, & Claire [again], and Gretchen)
--
"You have to tell your Dad." "You've got a humanities lecture." These horrifying strokes of good sense from Gretchen in the midst of the general psychological kaleidoscope that is Heroes are giving me a terrible headache. Where's Sylar to help me with this? -- ewinfic
Again: Gretchen and Claire are cute! I do sort of like the way they're handling these two now; it's not all about LES BOS, it's more about Claire being able to trust someone. (Okay, yeah, I didn't believe that at first, but I'm drinking the koolaid now.) -- ewinfic
Awww, Claire takes after Peter. "People are in trouble! I can... uh... I can... make things much more complicated!" *rushes off* -- ewinfic
In other news, Noah in that nice high-neck gray sweater? Made of Oh Hells Yeah. -- ewinfic
"Take responsibility." Claire, you learned the wrong lesson from your recent encounter with Badguy1.0. -- ewinfic
It so annoys the crap out of me every time Claire fights to save the Utopia of the Hammerspace Carnival. 'Cause it's full of awesome and special people like Samuel and Eric Doyle and Eli who just need a safe place to be sociopaths. I'm surprised Sylar didn't jump at the chance to sign on, but then Sylar is all about being special. People like him are apparently a dime a dozen at the carnival.-- the_other_sandy
HRG's frantic googling finally paid off! Should've thought to use mapquest ages ago. -- ladymalchav
Gretchen, never argue with the Mary-Sue. It never ends well. -_--- ladymalchav
CLAIRE, CUT YOURSELF, YOU STUPID BINT. IT IS ALL YOU'RE GOOD FOR! D:< […] Claire, do something. You have this one chance to be awesome. You keep not taking them. Do it now. -- ladymalchav
Gretchen, apparently, is not quite as enamored with being Supergirl’s girlfriend, if it’s going to involve lots of angst and absences. Some people are suited for that kind of lifestyle, and some are not. Gretchen is not. Claire should respect that. She does not. -- jaune_chat
"It wasn't a pie chart, it was more like a... *waves hands vaguely*" - Claire's right, of course, but it did make me wonder what Sylar might have come up with if he'd only brought a protractor and several shades of chalk:
-- redscharlach
Yes, even the ever-patient Gretchen is now beginning to get cheesed off at Claire's apathy in the amorous arena. The girl can't even hold hands for five minutes without drifting off to wonder what else is happening in the plot this week, why so much of it is devoted to bloody Samuel, and whether she can somehow interfere to make it more interesting. With all that on her mind, it's no wonder she's literally losing her grip. -- redscharlach
Here's a little first-aid quiz for Claire. When treating a gunshot wound, do you a) stay by the patient and keep pressure on the wound, or b) run off with Doyle in pursuit of the idiot ball for ten minutes because the script tells you to, leaving an untrained evil person in charge of the medical emergency? Clue: the correct answer isn't the one that you picked. No wonder Emma gets put in charge of playing doctor as soon as she arrives. -- redscharlach
--
Well, I may have fucked your wife and threatened your life, but do you mind helping a fellow out?
(Matt, Sylar, Janice, Peter, and Angela)
--
See Peter? This is why Sylar hasn't killed Angela. NO ONE WANTS TO FUCKING DREAM THE FUTURE. -- superkappa
Didn't Matt say he was never going to lock people in their nightmares like his Dad? I guess Sylar was the exception. Or he forgot. And this is why Matt's power terrifies me. -- superkappa
Peter and Sylar are the only people in Sylar's world? I see the fic already. -- superkappa
Peter's face when he answers his phone with, "Ma," is so expressive. I half expected him to launch into, "You nevah cawl, you nevah write, and NOW I heah from you??" -- ewinfic
People are in neeeed! "Nathan would never turn his back on them." You know, Peter, Nathan might have let all of them swing loose in the wind. It depends on what kind of a Season he's in. -- ewinfic
Sylar has this very bizarre thing where he kind of gets off on helping people with small tasks. Carrying groceries, helping with relationship issues, delivering packages, clearing up that nasty headache of yours... -- ewinfic
Sylar looks like many things, but... Okay. I'm sorry. I'm very wrong. Sylar only looks like maybe one or two possible things. But my point is, a cop? Not one of them. -- ewinfic
Some of the amazingness of this episode and the last episode is that you have identity-crisis Sylar, who kind of sucks, but who is at least somewhat sympathetic... and you also have evil playful Sylar, who you love to hate, but who is fun fun FUN. Where FUN = UNF. But having both at the same time? Playful evil Sylar with issues on the side? Kind of awesome. -- ewinfic
Of course, had Sylar admitted from the start that he couldn't kill anymore ("Matt, my finger is limp, fix make wooooorrrrk!"), this scene would have been over within seconds, because Matt would have kicked his skinny ass down the stairs and proceeded to rip his eyebrows off just before pounding the rest of him into hamburger. -- ewinfic
Let me reiterate, because this really is the sticking point for me: HE USED MATT'S BODY TO BEAT A MAN TO DEATH WITH A TIRE IRON. I'm sorry, but I would go Dalek on Sylar's ass. EXTERMINATE.
I had this discussion with a friend of mine this week.
Her: "He's just so good at looking pitiful! But yeah, if I were Matt... I would put him in his worst nightmare, too."
Me: "I would put him somewhere very nice and happy. But I'd still brick him up."
Her: "Nice and happy? Really?"
Me: "Well, a few decades or centuries in the future, when he inevitably gets free, he maybe won't destroy the whole planet."
Her: "Point." -- ewinfic
Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because Peter showed up and meddled. I'm ambivalent about this. On the one hand, it's yet another really shatteringly meaningful gesture by Matt, utterly circumvented by convenient plot points. On the other hand, this will provide many many slashy interaction opportunities between Peter and Sylar. Given that this is Heroes, slash always trumps plot, so I'll just sigh and go with it. -- ewinfic
Aaaaaannnndddd we're back to the "my powers made me crazy" excuse. It's proved so popular that Samuel decided to try it out too. But I have news for you, Sylar. Asking Parkman to remove your buckets o' crazy is kind of like asking him to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. -- the_other_sandy
I see Parkman has been reading The Cask of Amontillado. Eew. Even trapped in a dream world, Sylar was eventually going to starve to death and start decomposing down there in the basement. There's not enough Febreeze in the world to cover up that smell. I almost wish Sylar did die down there just to see Parkman try to explain it to Janice, what with him being such a craptacular liar and all. -- the_other_sandy
I kind of miss last season when Sylar was using his shape-changing powers 'willy nilly', and you could never be sure who was who. […] Mostly because of the constant possibility of suprise!Sylar, but still... -- ladymalchav
I just realized, BOTH the most 'innocent' and 'pure' characters see 'burying alive' as a valid option for their problems. -- ladymalchav
And... showing Elle's death in the flashback is not enough especially if - beside virginia - her death is with a series of random and insignificant murders and... Charlie's death. Probably the editor of this episode didn't get the memo that Charlie was saved in the retcon... -- di_elle
And the cherry on top of everything... Peter is going to rescue Sylar. Peter. Saving. The man. Who. Killed. His Love Brother. -- di_elle
Sylar at Matt’s - Matt has the most hilarious “my head again?!” freakout. “That’s so two months ago.” Thanks for the timeline catch up, and for the meta reference the show has for dropping consequences without warning. -- jaune_chat
Sylar is really, really inadvertently scary (and sexy) when he’s being hospitable. Being all casual around Janice and smiling just creeps me out. Doesn’t anyone on this show bother to explain what the crazy, superpowered serial killer looks like so their family and friends know when to run, hide, and call for help? No? Damn, characters, get it together! You’ve had four fucking seasons with this psycho trying to kill your tantalizing asses! -- jaune_chat
Hmm, Sylar’s not thinking things through, is he? “Matt, I want you to suppress my powers. Because even though I’ve killed dozens of people, essentially shot you five times at the end of the first season, threatened Molly, tormented you for months inside your head, made you lose your job, made your body kill another person, threatened your family, fucked your wife, got you shot and nearly killed again, and then threatened your wife and child again, I can’t see how anything could go wrong by putting myself completely in your power and at your mercy.” -- jaune_chat
And then going Cask of Amondillado on Sylar’s ass? Uh… if you truly suppressed all his powers, including regeneration, it’s going to start to smell. And if you didn’t suppress his regeneration, Sylar will always be there, waiting. This is the house you live in with your wife and son, Matt. Fucking THINK! -- jaune_chat
[About Peter] And, as an aside, taking powers without permission is hella rude! -- jaune_chat
Meanwhile, Peter Petrelli is waking up in yet another sweaty frenzy, having foreseen the script for the last two episodes. There's still a lot of blurrycam and squealing but we did get a bit more detail (and blood) this time around:
a) Sylar sounded rather more sincere about being helpful - or is that a red herring?
b) Doyle was controlling Emma's cello-playing, so maybe he's the one Sylar will have to kill, rather than the Emmster herself?
c) Emma will now be wearing a brown jacket for the apocalypse. Fortunately Peter refrains from going over to her place and ripping up everything in her wardrobe, just in case her fashion choices are instrumental in the destruction of the world. -- redscharlach
"People's lives are at stake and Nathan would never turn his back on them.." - Um, Peter? I think you've forgotten not only that Nathan WOULD have left any number of people in the lurch, but that he'd have personally had them all burned at the stake if it would have given him a spot of politically convenient publicity. -- redscharlach
Angela, meanwhile, admits that Sylar is constantly on her mind. Once snogged, never forgotten, eh Angie? -- redscharlach
Yes, it's Sylar, inviting himself over to the Parkman house for nibbles and a little chit-chat about power removal and home improvement projects. His belief that Matt could block his abilities does seem a mite optimistic, given that Matt's last major incursion into his Gray matter lasted about six weeks before it all went Horribly Wrong (TM), but when Matt asks "How am I supposed to do that?", Sylar just answers "Handwave! Handwave!" and pushes the plot along with the zeal of a man who's got a sackful of quizzical facial expressions and plans to pack every one of them into his ten minutes of screentime. -- redscharlach
Matt also gets to try out a few confused faces of his own, especially when Sylar is wrestling with the supervillain clichés that threatened to overwhelm his brain. I was delighted when he did a little headshake and a "huh?" face after each one, as if he was possessed by the spirit of Dick Dastardly. -- redscharlach
Anyway, Sylar seems to have a Teflon brain that repells Matt's attempts at a nice quiet switch-off, so Matt eventually gets Janice's permission to do something deeply horrid instead. Yes, he forces Sylar gets to sit through a mental YouTube video of his greatest hits (including killing Charlie, which lest we forget HE ACTUALLY DIDN'T DO, but weirdly there's video footage of it) and then traps him in his own lonely mental hell. But on the plus side, if Sylar's going to be trapped for eternity, at least he's wearing a very stylish jacket for it. -- redscharlach
Our next quiz question is for Matt. Where is the best place to bury an immortal serial killer? Is it a) under your own house, or b) under somebody else's house, preferably somebody you don't like? Fortunately Matt doesn't have to face the consequences of his answer, because his bricklaying skills aren't quick enough to beat the intrepid boy investigator Tintin Petrelli, determined to make his dreams come true AND finally get his hands on Sylar. "You can't just take him!" says Matt, furious that he's now going to be stuck with a half-built wall he'll never finish AND no sexy serial killer to sell on eBay when the going gets tough. (Think what the fangirls would have paid for that, eh?) -- redscharlach
Gosh, the inside of Sylar's brain looks suspiciously like the movie Vanilla Sky, but with Peter Petrelli in place of Tom Cruise. -- redscharlach
He's going to take you don't to the basement and murder you Sylar, you know that don't you? -- ilikethequiet
Angela's place also has moderately better lighting than everywhere else. I know I talk about the lighting a lot but would it kill these people to get light fixtures that work? The darkness makes iconning difficult. -- ilikethequiet
...well if you're locked away forever, at least Matt's house is nice. -- ilikethequiet
--
The Rest of It
(Miscellaneous)
--
In closing... what more can I say? Clearly this episode brought out a lot of emotions in a lot of people. I can't wait for Monday. I am really looking forward to Peter/Sylar and some hammers, because, let's face it, Peter and Sylar and tools have so far been very, very good to us. I also can't shake the desire for Sylar to see Peter for the first time and hug him. I don't think they're going to play it that way, but it would be hilarious. -- ewinfic
Dear Show,
There's this awesome thing called "continuity." Other shows have employed this concept to positive effect. It might work for you too, should you care to try it out. -- the_other_sandy
--
Problems with Villainous Mastermind Plans 101: NO CAPES!
(Samuel, Lydia, Claire, Noah, & Lauren, and the rest of the Carnival)
--
It's weird to see Lydia wearing clothes so much now. -- superkappa
"There was an incident." Mistakes were made. Towns sank into the chalk layer. Samuel had a crazy day and was flowing heavy. -- ewinfic
Now Lydia's a mind reader? What? I... what? Ah, nevermind. -- ewinfic
"They needed a villain. Someone worse than me." Samuel is a writer for Heroes! This makes so much sense! -- ewinfic
They killed Lydia, obviously, she was both a new character and a woman (blond and not called Claire or played by Ali Larter): doomed from the start. Claire being right there with a healing blood made the things even more ridiculous. -- di_elle
Man, for a second there, at the beginning, I thought Samuel was wearing a villain’s cape. Which would have been a little OTT, even for the carnival. -- jaune_chat
You know, wanting to “prove your worth” by “any means necessary” is kind of a contradiction in terms. Normally you can’t prove you’re not really a mass-murdering psychopath by killing other people. Unless, of course, you’re Samuel Sullivan. -- jaune_chat
Samuel goes to surrender his ass with a big, heartfelt speech, which ends in a hail of blazing gunfire. Claire should have started screaming that it wasn’t her dad doing the shooting, because Noah “Badass” Bennet would have never shot Samuel in the shoulder. He’s not that bad a shot. He would have never shot Claire. And he would have never randomly shot around children. It’s a damn good thing Samuel had a huge distraction ready in Lydia’s death to keep anyone from thinking rationally about the whole damn mess. -- jaune_chat
Claire races off to get a medkit when she sees Lydia is down. Why didn’t she just start screaming for a syringe? Because not every medical kit has one, but in a carnival as big as this, someone is bound to be a diabetic or has some other condition that would require a syringe. I know Claire’s blood could cheapen death, but if the writers are going to introduce the damn stuff, they better fucking USE IT! -- jaune_chat
Samuel decides that Noah needs to go to the Hall of Mirrors with Damien of the Awesome Dreads and Unspecific Mind-Affecting Powers while Claire needs to be put in his trailer. Ew! EW!!! This can only end in more pseudo sexual assault on Claire, and I’m really, really getting tired of that. -- jaune_chat
We begin in Carnival land, where Samuel has a post-earthquake hangover the size of an enormous hole in the ground. He's also peeved that nobody is talking to him, apparently having forgotten that most of the carnival crew never had speaking parts in the first place. -- redscharlach
Speaking of people who aren't having sex, Claire also has to suffer the social embarrassment of finding out that her dad is regularly forcing an attractive woman to engage in tedious Carnival-related research. And even when Bennet takes Lauren for a romantic mini-break in the countryside, it's the kind that involves sniper rifles and binoculars rather than rolling in the hay. Personally, I think that Bennet's mind has got sex and violence irreparably confused and he now believes that sex is the one you need a bulletproof vest for. -- redscharlach
Alas poor Lydia! Not only does she die rather pointlessly but she has to suffer a final kiss-up with Samuel and ends up almost gagging because his tongue tastes of treacherous evil. Or possibly Nacho Cheese Doritos, which in my opinion have a similar tang. Yuck. -- redscharlach
Oooh Samuel is looking rough today and lolz, he's wearing a cloak. That's the sign of a true villain right there. -- ilikethequiet
It's million dollar question time!!! Mohinder clearly said when he made Noah a compass that you have to have someone with abilities to help find the place, HOW DID THEY FIND THE PLACE?! -- ilikethequiet
--
Nobody Ever Listens to a Voice of Reason™
(Noah, Lauren, & Claire [again], and Gretchen)
--
"You have to tell your Dad." "You've got a humanities lecture." These horrifying strokes of good sense from Gretchen in the midst of the general psychological kaleidoscope that is Heroes are giving me a terrible headache. Where's Sylar to help me with this? -- ewinfic
Again: Gretchen and Claire are cute! I do sort of like the way they're handling these two now; it's not all about LES BOS, it's more about Claire being able to trust someone. (Okay, yeah, I didn't believe that at first, but I'm drinking the koolaid now.) -- ewinfic
Awww, Claire takes after Peter. "People are in trouble! I can... uh... I can... make things much more complicated!" *rushes off* -- ewinfic
In other news, Noah in that nice high-neck gray sweater? Made of Oh Hells Yeah. -- ewinfic
"Take responsibility." Claire, you learned the wrong lesson from your recent encounter with Badguy1.0. -- ewinfic
It so annoys the crap out of me every time Claire fights to save the Utopia of the Hammerspace Carnival. 'Cause it's full of awesome and special people like Samuel and Eric Doyle and Eli who just need a safe place to be sociopaths. I'm surprised Sylar didn't jump at the chance to sign on, but then Sylar is all about being special. People like him are apparently a dime a dozen at the carnival.-- the_other_sandy
HRG's frantic googling finally paid off! Should've thought to use mapquest ages ago. -- ladymalchav
Gretchen, never argue with the Mary-Sue. It never ends well. -_--- ladymalchav
CLAIRE, CUT YOURSELF, YOU STUPID BINT. IT IS ALL YOU'RE GOOD FOR! D:< […] Claire, do something. You have this one chance to be awesome. You keep not taking them. Do it now. -- ladymalchav
Gretchen, apparently, is not quite as enamored with being Supergirl’s girlfriend, if it’s going to involve lots of angst and absences. Some people are suited for that kind of lifestyle, and some are not. Gretchen is not. Claire should respect that. She does not. -- jaune_chat
"It wasn't a pie chart, it was more like a... *waves hands vaguely*" - Claire's right, of course, but it did make me wonder what Sylar might have come up with if he'd only brought a protractor and several shades of chalk:
-- redscharlach
Yes, even the ever-patient Gretchen is now beginning to get cheesed off at Claire's apathy in the amorous arena. The girl can't even hold hands for five minutes without drifting off to wonder what else is happening in the plot this week, why so much of it is devoted to bloody Samuel, and whether she can somehow interfere to make it more interesting. With all that on her mind, it's no wonder she's literally losing her grip. -- redscharlach
Here's a little first-aid quiz for Claire. When treating a gunshot wound, do you a) stay by the patient and keep pressure on the wound, or b) run off with Doyle in pursuit of the idiot ball for ten minutes because the script tells you to, leaving an untrained evil person in charge of the medical emergency? Clue: the correct answer isn't the one that you picked. No wonder Emma gets put in charge of playing doctor as soon as she arrives. -- redscharlach
--
Well, I may have fucked your wife and threatened your life, but do you mind helping a fellow out?
(Matt, Sylar, Janice, Peter, and Angela)
--
See Peter? This is why Sylar hasn't killed Angela. NO ONE WANTS TO FUCKING DREAM THE FUTURE. -- superkappa
Didn't Matt say he was never going to lock people in their nightmares like his Dad? I guess Sylar was the exception. Or he forgot. And this is why Matt's power terrifies me. -- superkappa
Peter and Sylar are the only people in Sylar's world? I see the fic already. -- superkappa
Peter's face when he answers his phone with, "Ma," is so expressive. I half expected him to launch into, "You nevah cawl, you nevah write, and NOW I heah from you??" -- ewinfic
People are in neeeed! "Nathan would never turn his back on them." You know, Peter, Nathan might have let all of them swing loose in the wind. It depends on what kind of a Season he's in. -- ewinfic
Sylar has this very bizarre thing where he kind of gets off on helping people with small tasks. Carrying groceries, helping with relationship issues, delivering packages, clearing up that nasty headache of yours... -- ewinfic
Sylar looks like many things, but... Okay. I'm sorry. I'm very wrong. Sylar only looks like maybe one or two possible things. But my point is, a cop? Not one of them. -- ewinfic
Some of the amazingness of this episode and the last episode is that you have identity-crisis Sylar, who kind of sucks, but who is at least somewhat sympathetic... and you also have evil playful Sylar, who you love to hate, but who is fun fun FUN. Where FUN = UNF. But having both at the same time? Playful evil Sylar with issues on the side? Kind of awesome. -- ewinfic
Of course, had Sylar admitted from the start that he couldn't kill anymore ("Matt, my finger is limp, fix make wooooorrrrk!"), this scene would have been over within seconds, because Matt would have kicked his skinny ass down the stairs and proceeded to rip his eyebrows off just before pounding the rest of him into hamburger. -- ewinfic
Let me reiterate, because this really is the sticking point for me: HE USED MATT'S BODY TO BEAT A MAN TO DEATH WITH A TIRE IRON. I'm sorry, but I would go Dalek on Sylar's ass. EXTERMINATE.
I had this discussion with a friend of mine this week.
Her: "He's just so good at looking pitiful! But yeah, if I were Matt... I would put him in his worst nightmare, too."
Me: "I would put him somewhere very nice and happy. But I'd still brick him up."
Her: "Nice and happy? Really?"
Me: "Well, a few decades or centuries in the future, when he inevitably gets free, he maybe won't destroy the whole planet."
Her: "Point." -- ewinfic
Unfortunately, that's not going to happen, because Peter showed up and meddled. I'm ambivalent about this. On the one hand, it's yet another really shatteringly meaningful gesture by Matt, utterly circumvented by convenient plot points. On the other hand, this will provide many many slashy interaction opportunities between Peter and Sylar. Given that this is Heroes, slash always trumps plot, so I'll just sigh and go with it. -- ewinfic
Aaaaaannnndddd we're back to the "my powers made me crazy" excuse. It's proved so popular that Samuel decided to try it out too. But I have news for you, Sylar. Asking Parkman to remove your buckets o' crazy is kind of like asking him to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. -- the_other_sandy
I see Parkman has been reading The Cask of Amontillado. Eew. Even trapped in a dream world, Sylar was eventually going to starve to death and start decomposing down there in the basement. There's not enough Febreeze in the world to cover up that smell. I almost wish Sylar did die down there just to see Parkman try to explain it to Janice, what with him being such a craptacular liar and all. -- the_other_sandy
I kind of miss last season when Sylar was using his shape-changing powers 'willy nilly', and you could never be sure who was who. […] Mostly because of the constant possibility of suprise!Sylar, but still... -- ladymalchav
I just realized, BOTH the most 'innocent' and 'pure' characters see 'burying alive' as a valid option for their problems. -- ladymalchav
And... showing Elle's death in the flashback is not enough especially if - beside virginia - her death is with a series of random and insignificant murders and... Charlie's death. Probably the editor of this episode didn't get the memo that Charlie was saved in the retcon... -- di_elle
And the cherry on top of everything... Peter is going to rescue Sylar. Peter. Saving. The man. Who. Killed. His Love Brother. -- di_elle
Sylar at Matt’s - Matt has the most hilarious “my head again?!” freakout. “That’s so two months ago.” Thanks for the timeline catch up, and for the meta reference the show has for dropping consequences without warning. -- jaune_chat
Sylar is really, really inadvertently scary (and sexy) when he’s being hospitable. Being all casual around Janice and smiling just creeps me out. Doesn’t anyone on this show bother to explain what the crazy, superpowered serial killer looks like so their family and friends know when to run, hide, and call for help? No? Damn, characters, get it together! You’ve had four fucking seasons with this psycho trying to kill your tantalizing asses! -- jaune_chat
Hmm, Sylar’s not thinking things through, is he? “Matt, I want you to suppress my powers. Because even though I’ve killed dozens of people, essentially shot you five times at the end of the first season, threatened Molly, tormented you for months inside your head, made you lose your job, made your body kill another person, threatened your family, fucked your wife, got you shot and nearly killed again, and then threatened your wife and child again, I can’t see how anything could go wrong by putting myself completely in your power and at your mercy.” -- jaune_chat
And then going Cask of Amondillado on Sylar’s ass? Uh… if you truly suppressed all his powers, including regeneration, it’s going to start to smell. And if you didn’t suppress his regeneration, Sylar will always be there, waiting. This is the house you live in with your wife and son, Matt. Fucking THINK! -- jaune_chat
[About Peter] And, as an aside, taking powers without permission is hella rude! -- jaune_chat
Meanwhile, Peter Petrelli is waking up in yet another sweaty frenzy, having foreseen the script for the last two episodes. There's still a lot of blurrycam and squealing but we did get a bit more detail (and blood) this time around:
a) Sylar sounded rather more sincere about being helpful - or is that a red herring?
b) Doyle was controlling Emma's cello-playing, so maybe he's the one Sylar will have to kill, rather than the Emmster herself?
c) Emma will now be wearing a brown jacket for the apocalypse. Fortunately Peter refrains from going over to her place and ripping up everything in her wardrobe, just in case her fashion choices are instrumental in the destruction of the world. -- redscharlach
"People's lives are at stake and Nathan would never turn his back on them.." - Um, Peter? I think you've forgotten not only that Nathan WOULD have left any number of people in the lurch, but that he'd have personally had them all burned at the stake if it would have given him a spot of politically convenient publicity. -- redscharlach
Angela, meanwhile, admits that Sylar is constantly on her mind. Once snogged, never forgotten, eh Angie? -- redscharlach
Yes, it's Sylar, inviting himself over to the Parkman house for nibbles and a little chit-chat about power removal and home improvement projects. His belief that Matt could block his abilities does seem a mite optimistic, given that Matt's last major incursion into his Gray matter lasted about six weeks before it all went Horribly Wrong (TM), but when Matt asks "How am I supposed to do that?", Sylar just answers "Handwave! Handwave!" and pushes the plot along with the zeal of a man who's got a sackful of quizzical facial expressions and plans to pack every one of them into his ten minutes of screentime. -- redscharlach
Matt also gets to try out a few confused faces of his own, especially when Sylar is wrestling with the supervillain clichés that threatened to overwhelm his brain. I was delighted when he did a little headshake and a "huh?" face after each one, as if he was possessed by the spirit of Dick Dastardly. -- redscharlach
Anyway, Sylar seems to have a Teflon brain that repells Matt's attempts at a nice quiet switch-off, so Matt eventually gets Janice's permission to do something deeply horrid instead. Yes, he forces Sylar gets to sit through a mental YouTube video of his greatest hits (including killing Charlie, which lest we forget HE ACTUALLY DIDN'T DO, but weirdly there's video footage of it) and then traps him in his own lonely mental hell. But on the plus side, if Sylar's going to be trapped for eternity, at least he's wearing a very stylish jacket for it. -- redscharlach
Our next quiz question is for Matt. Where is the best place to bury an immortal serial killer? Is it a) under your own house, or b) under somebody else's house, preferably somebody you don't like? Fortunately Matt doesn't have to face the consequences of his answer, because his bricklaying skills aren't quick enough to beat the intrepid boy investigator Tintin Petrelli, determined to make his dreams come true AND finally get his hands on Sylar. "You can't just take him!" says Matt, furious that he's now going to be stuck with a half-built wall he'll never finish AND no sexy serial killer to sell on eBay when the going gets tough. (Think what the fangirls would have paid for that, eh?) -- redscharlach
Gosh, the inside of Sylar's brain looks suspiciously like the movie Vanilla Sky, but with Peter Petrelli in place of Tom Cruise. -- redscharlach
He's going to take you don't to the basement and murder you Sylar, you know that don't you? -- ilikethequiet
Angela's place also has moderately better lighting than everywhere else. I know I talk about the lighting a lot but would it kill these people to get light fixtures that work? The darkness makes iconning difficult. -- ilikethequiet
...well if you're locked away forever, at least Matt's house is nice. -- ilikethequiet
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The Rest of It
(Miscellaneous)
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In closing... what more can I say? Clearly this episode brought out a lot of emotions in a lot of people. I can't wait for Monday. I am really looking forward to Peter/Sylar and some hammers, because, let's face it, Peter and Sylar and tools have so far been very, very good to us. I also can't shake the desire for Sylar to see Peter for the first time and hug him. I don't think they're going to play it that way, but it would be hilarious. -- ewinfic
Dear Show,
There's this awesome thing called "continuity." Other shows have employed this concept to positive effect. It might work for you too, should you care to try it out. -- the_other_sandy